# Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a documented account of the military and intelligence roots of the internet and its surveillance design.

## Why people recommend it

- Well documented account of internet surveillance (2 comments): "Yasha Levine's well documented premise is that the entire existence of the internet is designed for surveillance and content control" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45837681)) "the interaction with government and defense and intelligence is well documented" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48762778))
- Covers military roots of the internet (2 comments): "about the military history of the internet originating in counter insurgency strategy in vietnam" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46197359)) ""Surveillance Valley" is another excellent book about the tech industry's military roots." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47165756))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1785785710?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781785785719) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine", https://hackerapproved.com/p/surveillance-valley/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).